European Patent Application No. 93120587.6 (Shofner et al.) discloses a method for the optimum control of textile machines by means of a process model. The method proceeds from the fact that the process model is represented as a system of linear mathematical equations whose coefficients are determined by means of the method of multiple linear regression on the basis of results from trials which are carried out systematically.
One disadvantage of this method consists of the fact that the restrictions which are produced as a result of the presupposition of a system of linear equations as a process model do not satisfy in many ways the practical requirements as to the accuracy of the simulation of a process by means of such a process model. Since the functional relationships between input data, output data and configuration and setting parameters of a process are as a rule not linear, the simulation of a process by means of a linear model yields results which are usable to a certain extent at most in a narrow operating range.
A further disadvantage of this method consists of the fact that the practical implementation of the method of multiple linear regression for determining the coefficients of the equations of a system of linear equations requires a very good mathematical understanding on the part of the person carrying it out, if a model is to be constructed which is as practically suitable as possible in spite of these fundamental restrictions.
It is the object of the invention, as it is characterized in the claims, to produce a method and a device with which, using a process model, reliable predictions about the interactions of input variables, output variables and setting variables can be made possible in the processing of textile structures without the above mentioned disadvantages.